Ouroboros XXVI Pride
Born on 9 May 1965 to Grand Princess Lilia Pride of Cape Colony and her husband Baron Reynolds Molteno of Overberg, Ouroboros XXVI succeeded his childless uncle Ouroboros XXV as the 26th Emperor. He is formally styled as: His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Ouroboros XXVI Pride the Peacemaker, of House Pride, from the Imperial Sovereign Dominion of Pride Colony of the Pride Empire, and, Sovereign of the Unified Imperial State, Supreme Overlord of All in the Imperial Realm of the Pridelands, and Emperor in the Imperial Union of the Proudlands. Ouroboros XXVI's reign started during one of the most tumultuous times in the history of the nation when it was on the brink of civil war and collapse, the Freedom Revolution. His initiative as Crown Prince under the condoned blessing of Emperor Ouroboros XXV to hold negotiations with the opposition proved pivotal as it curbed further tensions and ended the revolution with a peaceful solution that resulted in the creation of the Magna Carta of the Proudlands and the Grand Constitution of the Unified Imperial State. Emperor Ouroboros XXIV, a hard line conservative and Imperialist then early to make way for the reforms and restructuring to continue as envisioned by Crown Prince Ouroboros XXVI. His first act as Emperor was to establish the Unified Imperial State and the separate, autonomous sovereign nation of the Imperial Union of the Proudlands which were formally created during his coronation ceremony as well. Background Born as the second son of Grand Princess Lilia Pride with her husband Baron Reynolds Molteno, his older brother, Ouroboros XXV originally inherited the role of Crown Prince while Ouroboros XXVI was intended to succeed his mother as the Grand Prince of Cape Colony. The then reigning Emperor, Emperor Ouroboros XXV the Hardworking (nicknamed "the Lonely" or "the Virgin" as well for not having relationships), had already declared that the Imperial Throne would be passed to his older sister's son. As a young prince, Ouroboros XXVI took a keen interest in agriculture and frequently accompanied his father, Baron Reynolds Molteno, during stays in his father's own Inherited District in the Imperial Molteno Domain of Overberg which is known in the Pride Empire for producing more than 50% of the agriculture sector. In the Cape Colony, Grand Princess Lilia Pride doted on Ouroboros XXVI greatly as his first son, Crown Prince Ouroboros XXV was sent to Pride Colony at the early age of 6 to be brought up by Emperor Ouroboros XXIV as his heir. During all this time, Ouroboros XXVI received personal tutelage from his own parents and lacked formal education. Ouroboros XXVI had an estranged relationship with his brother then Crown Prince Ouroboros XXV and they rarely see each other given that XXVI spent his youth in the Cape Colony and Overberg while XXV grew up in Pride Colony since he was the Crown Prince. On 16 October 1985, Emperor Ouroboros XXIV announced that he have now renamed 18-year old XXVI as the Crown Prince and XXV as the Grand Prince, succeeding their mother, but withhold his reasons for doing so. XXVI had to immediately depart to the Imperial Capital. There he received formal education and had to learn foreign languages, arts, and musics where he struggled to excel at whilst exercising his function as the Crown Prince and accompanying the Emperor in formal occasions. Ouroboros XXVI immediately tried to assert his leadership skills as Crown Prince but was disappointed by the lack of enthusiasm he received from the Lord Mayor and Lord Stewards. During this time he also befriended the then Duke Reyneir Gallis who was of the same age. Ouroboros XXVI took his interests with him to the capital and a small botanical garden was created in the castle town of Pride Castle under his personal care. At the outbreak of the first signs of open dissent and civil disobedience that was the opening phases of the Freedom Revolution (which was prompted by the refusal of Emperor XXIV to fund the construction of outbound road-related infrastructure from metropolitan areas to the new settlements that were called derogatorily as the "Proudlands"), Crown Prince XXVI had meetings with the opposition figures and acted as an intermediary between them and his uncle. Reign Emperor Ouroboros XXVI's reign was immediately difficult and testing. Aside from all these, Grand Prince Ouroboros XXV of Cape Colony, the emperor's brother, proved difficult to talk to and often deviated from the policy reforms and objectives of Emperor Ouroboros XXVI. As the ex officio head of House Pride, XXVI attempted to reign in on his brother but to no avail. The Emperor then removed his brother from the position of Grand Prince of the Cape Colony and gave it to his own then 9-year old son, Crown Prince Ouroboros XXVII, but XXV successfully clung into de facto power until the Emperor finally allowed the Autonomous Peace-keeping Intervention Force (APKIF) to forcefully remove him from the Cape Colony on March 2004; Ouroboros XXV has since been in house arrest in Pride Castle. Personal Life Ouroboros XXVI married Countess Helena Gallis of House Gallis, a long-time close ally of House Pride, on 30 June 1990. He has two children with her: Ouroboros XXVII, named Crown Prince on 1 January 1992 and Grand Prince of the Cape Colony on 21 March 2000, and Siana Pride who surrendered her inheritance rights on 17 September 2013 to be able to run for a position in the Imperial Grand Assembly. Perspective Despite being progressive compared to his predecessors, Ouroboros XXVI Pride is still largely conservative opting to ignore institutional apartheid-like policies in the Pridelands. As a result, the Pridelands suffered "brawn drain" when thousands of its Black African second-class citizens migrated to the Proudlands. Legacy Ouroboros XXVI was the first to open the gates of the Great Border Wall allowing certain processed families to be repatriated to . Category:Imperial Union of the Proudlands Category:Leaders Category:Leaders in Africa Category:Politics & War Characters